Publications

TRACIT publications

A key objective of TRACIT is to improve the knowledge base by publishing cutting-edge research on critical issues that can reshape government policy and action to control illicit trade. Watch this space for TRACIT's recent publications.

2025 Illicit Trade Index (March 2025)

The 2025 Illicit Trade Index provides governments, policymakers, and enforcement agencies with actionable insights to tackle the challenges of illicit trade. Covering 158 countries—from emerging markets to advanced economies—the Index highlights vulnerabilities, strengths, and trends across national systems. Its data-driven analysis and practical recommendations aim to strengthen policies, enhance enforcement, and promote international collaboration. An interactive visualization tool allows users to explore results across multiple dimensions, including Rankings, Geographic and Economic Groupings, and Radar Charts. More…

Learn more about the 2025 Illicit Trade Index

Illicit Alcohol Trade in Laos: Challenges and Solutions (January 2025)

The report, Illicit Alcohol Trade in Laos: Challenges and Solutions, addresses the tragic loss of life in Laos due to the consumption of toxic, illicit alcoholic beverages. The report features policy recommendations and a multi-pronged strategy for Laos and the region to stop illicit alcohol trade.

Learn more about illicit alcohol in Laos

Combatting Illicit Trade in the Dominican Republic (November 2024)

The report, Confronting the Threat of Illicit Trade: Spotlight on the Dominican Republic, assesses the nature and extent of illicit trade in the Dominican Republic. It examines the impact of illicit trade on the economy and society, analyzes the government's ongoing efforts to address the issue, and presents practical recommendations for effective solutions. This report aims to empower stakeholders in their fight against illicit trade, ultimately contributing to a more secure and prosperous Dominican Republic.

Confronting the Threat of Illicit Trade: Spotlight on the Dominican Republic

Tackling the sale of illicit pesticides on e-commerce platforms (April 2024)

TRACIT’s report, Tackling the sale of illicit pesticides on e-commerce platforms, identifies the scale of trade of illicit pesticides on e-commerce platforms and the vulnerabilities that expose platforms to illicit traders. The primary objective of the report is to examine the structural vulnerabilities in the operations of e-commerce platforms that can be exploited by criminals to sell illicit pesticides online. It goes on to present examples of listings of illicit pesticides found on major ecommerce platforms worldwide.

Tackling the sale of illicit pesticides on e-commerce platforms

Ethanol Control Toolkit (March 2024)

The Ethanol Control Toolkit promotes the use of ethanol control programs as an effective measure for mitigating the production of illicit alcoholic beverages, disrupting illicit alcohol networks and protecting public health. It delineates a 3-pillar approach to creating, implementing and monitoring an ethanol control program. It includes an Ethanol Control Checklist, designed for use by legislators and regulatory agencies to implement or fortify ethanol control systems. In cases where legislation governing ethanol controls is absent, the Background Report provides an adequate basis for drafting and introducing new, enabling legislation.

Ethanol Control Toolkit 

Money Talks: The Crooked Connection Between Corruption and Illicit Trade (February 2024)

The report Money Talks: The Crooked Connection Between Corruption and Illicit Trade looks at thirteen illicit sectors and finds that no sector vulnerable to illicit trade is immune from the effects of corruption. Based on the findings of the report, TRACIT has formulated a “checklist” of fundamental measures that governments are encouraged to implement to improve their ability to defend against the wider societal harms of illicit trade, with a particular emphasis on addressing the enabling role of corruption in perpetuating illicit supply chains.

Money Talks: The Crooked Connection Between Corruption and Illicit Trade

Fighting Fakes, Contraband and Illicit Trade: Spotlight on The Philippines (November 2023)

The report Fighting Fakes, Contraband and Illicit Trade: Spotlight on the Philippines assesses the nature and extent of illicit trade in the Philippines. It evaluates its impact on both the economy and society, analyzes the government's ongoing initiatives to tackle the issue, and puts forward practical recommendations for effective solutions. The report is designed to empower stakeholders in their efforts to combat illicit trade, ultimately contributing to the creation of a more secure and prosperous Philippines.

Fighting Fakes, Contraband and Illicit Trade: Spotlight on the Philippines

Illicit Trade in Pakistan: The Twin Task Of Combating Illicit Trade And Boosting Economic Growth (November 2023)

The convergence of various structural weaknesses in Pakistan’s economy challenges its ability to sustain recent gains in poverty reduction and undermines objectives for long-term growth in GDP. Since these factors also create fertile ground for illicit markets to strengthen, this report investigates the associated impacts and suggests remedies for consideration by Pakistan’s policy leaders. The TRACIT report Illicit Trade in Pakistan: The Twin Task Of Combating Illicit Trade And Boosting Economic Growth highlights that effectively tackling illicit trade will be a crucial ingredient in achieving Pakistan's economic prospects.

Illicit Trade in Pakistan: The Twin Task Of Combating Illicit Trade And Boosting Economic Growth

Exposing Supply Chain Vulnerabilities to Illicit Trade: A global report on dynamics, hotspots and responses across 10 sectors (November 2023)

The TRACIT report, Exposing Supply Chain Vulnerabilities to Illicit Trade: A global report on dynamics, hotspots and responses across 10 sectors, examines systemic weaknesses in complex supply chains to expose vulnerabilities in transportation modalities and hotspots that traffickers exploit to advance illicit trade, including e-commerce platforms, free trade zones and postal systems. The report also accounts for the poly-criminal nature of illicit trade and appraises the knock-on effects on organized crime, corruption, money laundering and forced labor.

Exposing Supply Chain Vulnerabilities to Illicit Trade: A global report on dynamics, hotspots and responses across 10 sectors

Examining The Negative Impact of Illicit Trade On The ASEAN Community Vision 2025 (June 2023)

The TRACIT report Examining The Negative Impact of Illicit Trade On The ASEAN Community Vision 2025 shows how illicit trade poses a significant threat to the attainment of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of how illicit trade affects the three communities of ASEAN: the economic community, the political-security community, and the socio-cultural community. The report concludes with specific policy recommendations for consideration by ASEAN governments to strengthen their efforts to combat illicit trade and achieve their shared vision for the region.

Examining The Negative Impact of Illicit Trade On The ASEAN Community Vision 2025

Organized Crime, Corruption and Illicit Trade: Spotlight on South Africa (February 2023)

The TRACIT report Organized Crime, Corruption and Illicit Trade: Spotlight on South Africa shows that illicit trade is one of the biggest threats to stability and economic growth in South Africa. In providing an update on longstanding structural challenges, the report underscores how recent inflationary pressures, high levels of unemployment, widespread corruption, sophisticated organized crime networks and lingering effects from the COVID-19 pandemic have turbo charged the illicit economy.

Organized Crime, Corruption and Illicit Trade: Spotlight on South Africa

Inflation, product affordability, and illicit trade: Spotlight on Turkiye (December 2022)

The TRACIT report Inflation, product affordability, and illicit trade: Spotlight on Turkiye investigates the challenges the country faces with soaring inflation and illicit trade on multiple fronts. Given the negative impact high levels of inflation has on the market dynamics that drive illicit trade dynamics, the TRACIT report encourages Turkiye to be more vigilant in its efforts to defend its economy from illicit trade and proposes a set of policy recommendations to fortify the government’s efforts to control illicit trade.
Report: Inflation, product affordability, and illicit trade: Spotlight on Turkiye
Raporlamak: Enflasyon, satin alma gücü ve yasa dişi ticaret: Türkiye'ye ilişkin analiz

Media Release English | Media Release Türkçe | Op-Ed

Tackling Illicit Alcohol in Southeast Asia (September 2022)

TRACIT in collaboration with APISWA, EU-ABC and AACS launched a joint report 'Towards an ASEAN Community: Tackling Illicit Alcohol in Southeast Asia' at the EU-ASEAN Business Summit in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This report paves the way to effectively counter illicit trade in alcohol in the ASEAN region.

Media Release (English) | Media Release (Cambodian)

Full Report (English) | Full Report (Thai)

Examining the negative impacts of illicit trade on SDG 8 (September 2022)

The TRACIT report, "Examining the negative impacts of illicit trade on SDG 8", updates key findings from the 2019 Mapping the Impact of Illicit Trade on the Sustainable Development Goals to focus on the impacts of illicit trade on decent work and inclusive economic growth. Additionally, it incorporates observations on how the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the illicit trade economy. The report was launched during the UNCTAD 2nd Illicit Trade Forum 6-7 September 2022.

Examining the negative impacts of illicit trade on SDG 8

The Human Cost of Illicit Trade: Exposing demand for forced labor in the dark corners of the economy (December 2021)

Among the worst crimes associated with illicit trade is the demand it creates for forced and child labor. The TRACIT report, The Human Cost of Illicit Trade: Exposing demand for forced labor in the dark corners of the economy, studies an overlooked corner of the global economy, namely the incidence of forced labor in illicit market activities. The report shows that women, children and men of all ages and race are forced to labor in illicit sectors, where they are abused by organized criminals in their pursuit of profits.

The Human Cost of Illicit Trade: Exposing demand for forced labor in the dark corners of the economy

Examining the negative impacts of illicit trade on SDG 16 (February 2021)

The TRACIT report, "Examining the negative impacts of illicit trade on SDG 16", is part of TRACIT’s contribution to the partnership approach embodied in SDG 17 and a means by which business, the public sector and civil society can more effectively achieve the SDGs. The report updates key findings from the 2019 Mapping the Impact of Illicit Trade on the Sustainable Development Goals to focus on the criminal elements underpinning illicit trade and their relationship to SDG 16. Additionally, it incorporates observations during the COVID-19 pandemic, which show that criminal groups have swiftly exploited the situation and entrenched their positions in illicit trade.

Examining the negative impacts of illicit trade on SDG 16

The Link Between Illicit Trade and Sovereign Credit Ratings (January 2021)

The TRACIT report, "The Link Between Illicit Trade and Sovereign Credit Ratings", investigates whether a correlation can be established between individual countries’ creditworthiness and their vulnerability to illicit trade. The report compares the credit ratings attributed by S&P Global, Fitch Group and Moody's and the scores attributed by the Global Illicit Trade Environment Index, and finds that countries that are poorly equipped to tackle illicit trade also suffer from poor credit worthiness.

The Link Between Illicit Trade and Sovereign Credit Ratings

Prohibition, Illicit Alcohol and Lessons Learned from Lockdown (January 2021)

The TRACIT report, "Prohibition, Illicit Alcohol and Lessons Learned from Lockdown", analyzes the economic and social impacts of strict restrictions on the production and/or consumption of alcohol (dry laws) during the early stages of the COVID19 outbreak, with a specific focus on the consequences associated with illicit trade. The report suggests that crisis-driven COVID-19 related prohibitions on alcoholic beverages have generated a number of negative health-related externalities and promoted the development of parallel illicit markets.

Prohibition, Illicit Alcohol and Lessons Learned from Lockdown

Tackling Illicit Trade in ASEAN (November 2020)

TRACIT has joined with the EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC) to issue a report that sheds light on the growing problem of illicit trade in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The report, titled, “Tackling Illicit Trade in ASEAN”, comes at a time when illicit trade is gaining momentum in ASEAN and as officials prepare for the upcoming 14th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC). The paper investigates various forms of illicit trade in the region, the affected industry sectors and provides critical insight on how government and industry leaders can work together to introduce regulatory changes to confront this pressing issue.

Tackling Illicit Trade in ASEAN

Fraudulent Advertising Online: Emerging Risks and Consumer Fraud (July 2020)

Fraudulent advertising is rapidly emerging as a new risk to consumers shopping online, where millions of consumers are exposed to thousands of fraudulent advertisements taking them to thousands of illegitimate e-commerce websites that defraud and/or sell counterfeit products and deceitful services. This report from TRACIT and the American Apparel and Footwear Association investigates and points out that Internet-based platforms for social networking and shopping from home have inherent systemic weaknesses that are exploited by criminals to sell any variety of counterfeit or illegal product with little risk of apprehension. The lack of sufficient policies and procedures to verify an advertiser’s true identity and limited vetting during the onboarding process are identified as the main vulnerabilities that enable fraudulent advertising online.

Fraudulent Advertising Online: Emerging Risks and Consumer Fraud

lllicit Trade in South Africa: Challenges and Solutions (October 2019)

South Africa is one of the largest and most diversified economies in Africa. The country has a well-established manufacturing base, is a major supplier of goods and services to the continent, has a large consumer base, serves as a regional transport hub, has a strong tourism and financial sector, as well as robust traditional sectors such as agriculture and mining. This diversification, however, means that South Africa also faces challenges from illicit trade on multiple fronts. This publication explores the situation in South Africa and highlights a number of regulatory and legal mechanisms that the government can implement to better control and combat illicit trade.

lllicit Trade in South Africa: Challenges and Solutions

lllicit Trade in Alcohol in India: Challenges and Solutions (September 2019)

Illicit trade in alcohol is widespread, representing significant percentages of alcohol consumption worldwide and stripping governments of billions of dollars in tax revenues. In almost all cases, illicit trade in alcohol results in serious health risks to consumers, revenue loss, and brand degradation for legitimate manufacturers, as well as reduced tax revenue for governments. This publication explores the situation in India and the causes for the flourishing trade in illicit alcohol. The problem in India is exacerbated by the massive size of the country, the federal structure, diverse drinking patterns, the varied regulatory structure and regional nuances and traditions that characterize the alcohol market. Notably, the report highlights a number of regulatory and legal mechanisms that the government can implement to better control and combat illicit alcohol.

lllicit Trade in Alcohol in India: Challenges and Solutions

lllicit Trade in Alcohol in Costa Rica: Challenges and Solutions (September 2019)

Illicit trade in alcohol is widespread, representing significant percentages of alcohol consumption worldwide and stripping governments of billions of dollars in tax revenues. In almost all cases, illicit trade in alcohol results in serious health risks to consumers, revenue loss, and brand degradation for legitimate manufacturers, as well as reduced tax revenue for governments. This publication explores the situation in Costa Rica and highlights a number of regulatory and legal mechanisms that the government can implement to better control and combat illicit alcohol.

lllicit Trade in Alcohol in Costa Rica: Challenges and Solutions (English)
Comercio Ilícito de Alcohol en Costa Rica: Desafíos y Soluciones (Español)

Mapping the Impact of Illicit Trade on the Sustainable Development Goals (July 2019)

From smuggling, counterfeiting and tax evasion, to the illegal sale or possession of goods, services, humans and wildlife, illicit trade is compromising the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in significant ways. In order to help governments and business better understand how their efforts to achieve sustainable development must account for the negative forces of illicit trade, this study maps the UN SDGs against 12 sectors that participate significantly in international trade and are particularly vulnerable to illicit trade.

Visit the Mapping the Impact of Illicit Trade on the Sustainable Development Goals page to see the report.

Size and Shape of the Global Illicit Alcohol Market (November 2018)

Illicit trade in alcohol is widespread, representing significant percentages of alcohol consumption worldwide and stripping governments of billions of dollars in tax revenues. According to Euromonitor International, 1 in 4 alcohol bottles are illicit, representing 25.8% of all global consumption.

Visit the Illicit Alcohol page for the Euromonitor Global Study on Illicit Alcohol and associated country reports.

Global Illicit Trade Environment Index (June 2018)

The Global Illicit Trade Environment Index is commissioned by TRACIT and produced by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The Index evaluates 84 countries on their structural capability to guard against illicit trade, highlighting specific strengths and weaknesses across 25 policy, legal, regulatory, economic, trade, institutional and cultural indicators.

EIU Global Report and Regional Briefings
Building on the Index data, the EIU has published several papers that cover the global and regional results, focusing on how economies score on the Index, and delving into which regional economies are taking the most action, and which ones are doing little to address this issue.

TRACIT Policy Recommendations
TRACIT has prepared a set of policy recommendations inspired by the thematic categories upon which the Index was constructed. The recommendations are universal in nature, providing a “checklist” of fundamental measures governments can implement to improve their ability to defend against illicit trade.

Global Recommendations